Roman Numerals

You can guess from their name that Roman Numerals originated in ancient Rome. They were created as a simple means of counting in which certain letters are given values as numerals (a numeral is a written symbol referring to a number). The original system of Roman Numerals was modified during the Middle Ages and is the system we still use today.

Seven letters form the basis of Roman Numerals. Each letter stands for a number as shown here.

ROMAN NUMERALS

I = 1

V = 5

X = 10

L = 50

C = 100

D = 500

M = 1,000

Reading and Writing Roman Numerals

Numbers are represented by combining the letters shown above. There are several rules to follow.

If one or more letters are placed after another letter of greater value, add that amount.